


a place by your hearth

by djelibeybi



Series: king, queen, jester [1]
Category: A Song of Ice and Fire & Related Fandoms, A Song of Ice and Fire - George R. R. Martin
Genre: Established Relationship, F/M, Hyle POV, a lot of jaime/hyle rivalry, book canon, but he's in denial, hyle might have slight unrequited feelings for brienne, professional third wheel hyle hunt, set in an extremely unrealistic fluffy future
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-02
Updated: 2021-01-02
Packaged: 2021-03-10 18:07:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,755
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28491378
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/djelibeybi/pseuds/djelibeybi
Summary: Hyle reluctantly attends Brienne and Jaime's wedding and ends up staying longer than he'd expected.
Relationships: Jaime Lannister/Brienne of Tarth
Series: king, queen, jester [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2087019
Comments: 33
Kudos: 120





	a place by your hearth

**Author's Note:**

> I posted this on tumblr a while ago but since I love writing Hyle POVs and married JB so much I decided to post it here and make it a series. Set in a very very fluffy post-canon future where nothing bad will ever happen again. I'll probably be posting the next installment right after I post this one because it's 1am, I have essays to write tomorrow and I'm in the mood to make some bad decisions. Let me know what you think!
> 
> (Title of the series comes from a tweet by twitter user @/CaucasianJames that says "she's his queen. he's her king. i'm their jester." If that doesn't scream Hyle to you then I don't know what does.)

Hyle Hunt had not had a wealth of options for the future when he left the Vale. Had he been asked to predict where he would end up, however, becoming a household knight for Brienne of Tarth and her husband Jaime Lannister would not have been his first guess.

And yet, somehow, here he was.

When the war at last was over and peace had finally settled, he had been invited to their wedding with a smug letter that had undoubtedly been written by the Kingslayer, a clumsy left-handed scrawl. _Dear Ser Hyle_ , it had said, _I know you have supported our union from the beginning. It would bring both of us great joy if you could attend our wedding, but particularly me. I look forward to seeing you. Perhaps, if you’ve recovered from last time, we could spar again_.

Hyle could just imagine him smirking to himself as he wrote it. _Arrogant bastard._ Just picturing his stupid perfect face made Hyle’s blood boil.

Yet he had attended the wedding anyway, partly due to a lack of other things to do, and partly because he still could not quite believe that it would really happen.

But it had. Brienne the Beauty had been married to Jaime Lannister in the sept at Evenfall Hall, wearing a blue gown that became her surprisingly well and a radiant smile. Hyle had never seen her look so happy; before, he would not have even thought her capable of a smile like that. It had made him feel strangely melancholy as he sat at the back of the sept and watched them, alone; no land, no money, no prospects whatsoever.

It was justice, he supposed. Almost every other man who had participated in that stupid bet so long ago was dead now. At least he had escaped _that_ punishment.

He had not known that his own punishment was only just beginning.

The day after the wedding, sick as a dog from too much wine the night before, he missed the boat back to the mainland. By then, most of the other guests had departed, and Hyle was left awkwardly remaining with a newlywed couple who quite clearly resented his presence.

“Thought you wanted a rematch, Kingslayer,” he said, in a feeble attempt to make light of the situation.

“I _did_ ,” Jaime said pointedly, wrapping an arm around Brienne’s waist. “But now that I’m finally married, I find I’d rather have some time alone with my wife.”

Brienne turned pink, and Hyle gritted his teeth. 

“I know I’m probably not the first person you would have wanted intruding on your honeymoon—” he began.

“No,” Jaime agreed.

“Jaime,” said Brienne warningly.

“—but I don’t want to be here either, you know. I didn’t _intend_ to miss that boat. Now that I’m here, can’t you just ignore me until I can leave? It’s only two days until the next boat goes out.”

“I would love to ignore you, Hunt,” said the Kingslayer. “It’s just, you make it very difficult.”

“ _Jaime_ ,” said Brienne.

The Kingslayer was undeterred. “Can’t you take a room at an inn?” he asked Hyle. “My wife and I would like to have the castle to ourselves for a while.” He raised his eyebrows and pulled Brienne closer to him, as if to quash any possible doubt as to what he meant.

Brienne went even pinker. “ _Jaime!_ ” she said, breaking away from him indignantly, then turned to Hyle with an apologetic smile. “I’m sorry, Ser Hyle. Of course you can stay. There is more than enough room for you here at Evenfall.”

At this point Hyle would almost have preferred to stay at an inn, but pride and lack of coin prevented him. “Thank you, my lady,” he said graciously, refusing to look at Jaime. “I promise you will hardly even notice me.”

They did notice him.

The very next morning, Hyle went to the training yard to do some sword drills only to find the two of them kissing passionately in the middle of it, their swords abandoned on the ground.

“Have you nowhere else to do that?” he inquired.

They broke apart immediately at the sound of his voice; Brienne mortified, Jaime murderous.

“Can I not kiss my wife in our own training yard?” the Kingslayer demanded.

“Of course you can, my lord,” said Hyle innocently. “Just know that other people might occasionally come here to train, as befits the purpose of a training yard.”

Jaime looked as though he might hit him, but Brienne stroked his arm soothingly and murmured something in his ear. Hyle could not hear what she said, but it sounded something like _Let’s go back to our chambers, my love._

Hyle’s amusement faded immediately, replaced by something oddly bitter. He watched them leave, then went through his drills with more vehemence than he had intended.

Then, the day Hyle’s ship was supposed to leave, the storm hit.

It blew in from Shipbreaker’s Bay, sudden and violent, battering Tarth’s southern shores. “I think this will be a long one,” Brienne said at dinner, while the wind howled outside the stained glass windows. She chewed her lip. “The fishermen are saying that even when it breaks, the seas will still be rough for a few days.”

Hyle’s heart sank. “So the ships won’t leave until then?”

Jaime looked as though he shared Hyle’s feelings. “It seems you’re stuck here for a while longer, Hunt,” he said, stabbing a potato with his fork.

Even Brienne could not force a convincing smile.

The next day, as predicted, the rain eased, but the waters were still too rough for any ships to sail. Bored, Hyle skulked around the castle, avoiding his hosts as best he could, until eventually he bumped into young Podrick Payne in the armoury.

The boy had grown since their nightmarish adventure in the Riverlands, both in height and in confidence, though he was still somewhat awkward, and his stammer remained. Despite his best efforts, Hyle had grown fond of him.

“Shall we spar, Pod?” he asked. “Just check that our gracious hosts have vacated the training yard before I go out there, if you don’t mind. I’ve no wish to interrupt them again.”

It turned out the yard was mercifully free of Jaime and Brienne, and they had a good long sparring session. The lad had certainly improved; the last time they’d sparred together, he’d been hopeless.

“Not bad, young Payne,” he said, impressed, when Pod ended up disarming him. “You’ve been training.”

“He certainly has,” said a fond voice from behind them, and they turned to see Brienne, smiling at Podrick. “He’ll be a great knight one day, I don’t doubt it.”

Pod reddened and looked away, and Hyle resisted the urge to roll his eyes. Brienne’s affection for Podrick often caused her to imagine talent that the boy did not have, but at least it boosted his confidence.

Brienne turned to Hyle. “Ser,” she said, “I’ve been meaning to ask you. Where will you go when you leave us?”

Hyle hesitated. He had been asking himself the same question since he’d arrived. “I have some plans,” he said vaguely, hoping she would not probe further.

But of course she did. “What plans?”

Hyle shrugged. “Mayhaps I’ll go to Dorne.” It was an idea he’d been half-heartedly toying with for a while. “Or back to the Reach. Anywhere, really.” He attempted a carefree grin. “That’s the beauty of the hedge knight’s life. I’m as free as a bird, my lady.”

Brienne did not look convinced. “When you were trying to get me to marry you, you did not seem quite so keen on being a hedge knight.”

“It’s growing on me,” he lied.

Brienne shook her head. “I don’t believe you. You like money too much.”

He had to laugh. “All right, my lady. You know me well. No, it’s not what I want, but what choice do I have?” He gave her a mock-sad look. “You ruined my chance at having money when you chose the Kingslayer over me. You know, if your lord husband had a heart, he’d compensate me. He is rich enough already.”

Brienne rolled her eyes. “Jaime does not owe you _compensation_.” Her expression turned thoughtful, gaze drifting past him into the distance. “Although…”

He perked up. “Yes?”

She chewed her lip. “Well… I would need to speak to Jaime, of course, and he might not agree, but I was thinking… we are in need of household knights.”

He stared at her. “You want _me_ to be a knight of your household?”

She shrugged, almost defensive. “I haven’t always liked you, Ser Hyle, and I know we don’t always agree, but you did help me on my quest, and you fought bravely against Stoneheart and her men. You complained a lot—”

“No, I didn’t.”

“—but you didn’t abandon us. Well, you did, but I was impressed by how long you lasted. Anyway, I trust you.”

She looked at him, blue eyes wide and earnest, and he had to laugh.

“What a touching speech. I don’t know how I could deny such a request.”

Brienne blushed and frowned at him. “Well, I’m not going to tell you flowery words that aren’t true.”

“No,” agreed Hyle fondly. “You wouldn’t.” He felt a wave of affection for her, accompanied as always by a wave of guilt about that stupid fucking bet.

“If you’ll consider it,” said Brienne, “I’ll talk to Jaime.”

Hyle looked at Pod, hovering in the background with his wooden sword in hand, and then out at the sea, so blue that it melted into the sky. _There are worse places to serve_ , he thought, _and far worse people_.

“Thank you, my lady,” he said. “I’d be honoured.”

“So you’re staying.”

Hyle turned halfway down the corridor to see the Kingslayer looking at him, arms folded.

“Apparently,” he said. “Try to contain your tears of joy.”

Jaime sighed. “I suppose I’ll just have to learn to tolerate you. Though I did tell Brienne that I would only agree on one condition.”

“And what’s that, my lord?” Hyle asked warily.

Jaime grinned at him. “We’re getting our honeymoon. We leave for Braavos tomorrow, and we’re staying for two moons at least. _You_ can stay here and look after Pod.”

“That suits me fine,” Hyle retorted. “I hope you have a wonderful time.”

“Oh, we will,” said Jaime cheerily. He clapped Hyle on the shoulder and strode away, leaving Hyle to glare at his retreating back.

_I should have gone to Dorne._


End file.
